Recycling solutions for Lebanon’s green bottle surplus

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The Israeli bombardment of Lebanon in 2006 left
significant damage to the country’s infrastructure, totalling approximately
$3.6 billion. Amongst the various factory and warehouse
casualties was the Maliban recycling factory, in the east of
Lebanon. It was the only factory to be handling green, amber, and
clear glass recycling. When the government was unable to provide
compensation to the foreign owner they decided not to restore the
facility, and the result was an overload in glass bottles making
their way to landfill.

Founded in 2013, Ziad Abi
Chaker’s Green Glass Recycling
Initiative Lebanon (GGRIL)has taken the surplus
glass and turned them into stylish and affordable lamps, glasses,
and vases. A successful CSR project, the company is well on its way
to expanding their glass blowing infrastructure and creating points
of sale around the world.

Wamda: How did GGRIL come about?

Abi Chaker: Cedar
Environmentalis a research and development
facility working to create environmental technologies to deal with
solid waste, and GGRIL is a corporate social responsibility project
for us. We had seen that the last six glassblowers in the country
were going out of business (all members of one family in Sarafand,
south Lebanon). GGRIL is one way to alleviate the recycling need
for green glass and provide jobs.

Wamda: Why was there a surplus of
glass?

Abi Chaker: The Maliban factory
was never replaced. The foreign company that owned it were not
compensated by the government for their loss and to rebuild would
have been about $40 million investment. So, it wasn’t worth it for
them. From that point on the bottles grew in number.

Wamda: Why is amber and green glass
problematic for recycling?

Abi Chaker: Simply because
they’re so abundant. There's already one plant that can process
clear class, so we decided to focus on amber and green. We were
stocking green glass since 2006 and we eventually had 80 tonnes.
When you think about the beer and wine industry [with its many
colored glass bottles], when those bottles aren’t being recycled
they’re ending up in landfill.

Wamda: What kind of numbers are we talking
about here?

Abi Chaker: According to data we
got from Almaza [the largest beer company in Lebanon], and the
Syndicate of Supermarket Owners, about 71 million bottles a year
are being thrown away.

Wamda: What position do you find yourself in
now in terms of capacity?

Abi Chaker: We can now recycle
all of the green glass. In 2014 we recycled about 200 tons for
GGRIL; that’s about 650,000 bottles. We’ve also just signed a deal
with Almaza where we’ll be offering up hand-blown glasses with
packs of beer. We believe such a deal is promoting the idea that
there is a huge market for green glass manufacturing. For any
company producing green glass they can see there are instantly two
customers for them in Lebanon: Almaza and wine makers. Collectively
those two alone are going through about 10 million bottles a
year.

Wamda: You ran a crowdfunding campaign in
2014. How did it go?

Abi Chaker: Through Indiegogo we
were looking to raise $30,000 for the purchase of a truck for
distribution of the glass products created. In the end we raised
$12,000 online and $18,000 offline. For the moment we don’t need to
do anymore fundraising and actually for us it was a last
resort.

Wamda: Has there been any help from the
government?

Abi Chaker: No, but we haven't
asked for any either. Certainly they do need to promote the idea to
investors and build a green glass recycling plant. Obviously
though, it is a hefty investment and the political situation is not
very helpful these days.

Glassblowing in Sarafand, Lebanon.

Wamda: What difference has GGRIL made to the
Sarafand glassblowers?

Abi Chaker: Two years ago they
were on the brink of bankruptcy, now they are looking to expand.
For the time being the infrastructure they have set up can handle
things, but if things continue to grow they'll need more. They are
also now making a profit.

Wamda: Do you think it’s possible to monetize
a green startup or social project?

Abi Chaker: If it’s not
profitable it’s not going to sustain itself. It’s a matter of
making prices reasonable. That’s why the project did so well
straight away. We did not want anything, no profit for Cedar
Environmental. It was affordable and people liked the designs.
Simple as that.

Wamda: What is next for GGRIL?

Abi Chaker: We are looking for
more points of sale. We just added another last week in
Lebanon.